If you haven’t seen the ‘Blackberry’ film, I can recommend it. As well as being entertaining and (I assume) reasonably close to the facts, there are some great take aways in the space of communication, persuasion, and negotiation.
Early in the movie there is a pivotal meeting where Blackberry, still a loss making start up with no clients, present their first prototype. The prototype looks like an oversized calculator, nothing like the slick smartphones we use today.
The AT&T executive looks at it and comments “that must be the world’s largest pager” to which the Blackberry founder responds “No, it’s the world’s smallest email terminal.”
In linguistics this is known as a ‘meaning reframe’ whereby a statement is reframed to have a different (and more preferable) meaning. In the late 1990’s pager technology was old and already on its way out – such a comparison was not a compliment. Email was the new golden goose and no-one had worked out how to put email on a phone in a way that worked at scale. Blackberry were the first. By changing the comparison to email, in one sentence the perception of the prototype shifted from a has been, to the future of communication.
Given this example, let us now analyse the structure behind the meaning reframe so that you can replicate it..
1. Understand the psychology driving your targets decisions. In this situation, the AT&T executives were desperate to be the first to deliver mobile email. Aligning the product with that need to win was critical in capturing their attention.
2. Analyse the needs, desires, pain points and/or opportunities present in any situation before deciding how to shift the meaning of a product, service, situation or behaviour. Once again, in this situation there were multiple influences impacting the decisions of the AT&T executives; the needs to deliver profits, to capture market share, the desire for personal fulfilment (ego gratification) etc. Any of these are potential triggers for action once we align our offering with them.
Remember, all meaning is context dependent. We have the power to change others perception of the meaning of a situation if we can shift the context in a way which is relevant to them. Referring to points 1 & 2 above, simply ask the question “What is it that I haven’t noticed about the situation that will change the meaning?” and with practise, you’ll become proficient at using the meaning reframe!
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